Unexpected Turns
by unrequitedexistence
Summary: What if Gail Peck hadn't left the bar after listening to Holly and Lisa's conversation? What if she had stayed and had sang her heart out instead? Song choice: Aretha Franklin's version of Respect.


Unexpected Turns

Gail Peck froze in her tracks. She had taken a bathroom break once Lisa and Holly had announced that another refill was due. On her way out she had caught the sight of the two women by the bar. She had just made the mental decision of walking up behind Holly and surprising her, or scaring the shit out of her, when her ear caught some interesting information.

_Still not going to last. She's a beat cop. You are out of her league. Something uncomplicated and simple. I'm having fun._

For a moment Gail Peck pictured herself doing what she always did. She saw herself jumping off the damn tree. Apparently guys weren't her _only_ problem, it seemed like her issue was truly human beings in general. She had been more than fair to say that she did hate people.

But she didn't hate Holly, though. She... she felt other things about her and she was pretty sure that said feelings were going somewhere in the opposite directions of hate. Still, for a moment she saw herself standing there till one of the two took notice of her presence. She would then pull her _you-have-to-be-fucking-kidding-me_ face expression that she knew would throw anyone away. That was an open door to her cold hearted bitch persona that would surely kill it, kill it all so bad that even Holly, being apparently one of the very best in her field, wouldn't get anything out of the body. No clues. No history. No nothing.

_Instead_, though_,_ she took a deep breath and made her way back to the table where Rachel was staring at her. The other woman was very much aware of what had just happened.

"Whatever you heard..." Rachel started just to be interrupted by Gail raising a hand for her to stop.

"Oh, no need to worry. I have heard worse. But usually people have the balls to say it to my face."

"You know, most people would have walked away."

"Not going to lie to you. The thought did cross my mind. I actually saw the whole scene play out in front of me. Like an out-of-body experience. But I care way too much about Holly to go all cold hearted bitch on Lisa. Besides, she doesn't really deserve the attention."

Gail felt rather proud of herself when she smiled back at Holly as the brunette sat by her side again, setting a new drink in front of her.

"Everything okay over here?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Gail asked, her reply coming too soon, too sharp, making the smile instantly disappear from Holly's face as she witnessed the blonde reaching out for her glass and taking a large sip of her brand new drink.

"What happened?"

Holly's eyes travelled back and forth between Gail's closed face and Rachel's worried one. If they were to play poker tonight she would surely bet all her money on Gail. She had never seen the blonde carry out such a blank expression for so long. It was almost as if the younger woman had locked her breathing self away and thrown away the key for no one to find and be able to open it again. She wondered what had brought that on...

"Don't look at Rachel. She didn't do anything wrong."

Gail didn't have to look up to know that all eyes were on her. That was something else she was more than used to. Being the center of attention. But never for the right reasons, of course. Truth be told, she wasn't _that_ good at dealing with compliments anyway. That was one thing that her mother hadn't taught her. Instead, she had learned how to pull out a blank expression. She knew just what to do to be completely unreadable. And she knew how insane that drove people.

"Actually..."

Rachel's eyes went down as she laid her hands on the table, palms down, on either side of her drink. She had started talking just to be interrupted, _again_, this time by Gail's hand over hers.

"It's okay, Rachel. We all judge."

"Good evening! We are starting our karaoke night right about now. Who's coming first? We see that Gail Peck is in the house. Would you come up please and get us started?"

Gail raised her glass at the announcer almost instantly and threw her head back, swallowing the rest of her drink without a second thought.

"Excuse me. As I am apparently too dumb for this conversation, you won't mind if I take the mic, will you?"

Gail stood up, putting her glass down as she threw a half cordial smile at her current audience.

Holly's eyes followed Gail's swaying hips as the blonde made her way to the stage before turning to focus questioningly on Rachel.

"She heard whatever you two were saying while buying drinks."

Rachel shrugged, taking a small sip of her drink as a full stop. She then turned slightly on her seat so that her eyes were on the blonde who was getting ready to start singing.

"And she's still here?"

Holly had to stop herself from reaching out and slapping Lisa across the face as those words abandoned her friend's mouth. Why did she always try to bring down every single person Holly seemed to fall for? Why couldn't Holly ever be the one to be right about something? About _someone_? She wasn't even allowed to be right about her own career choice, for God's sake. There was always something to be added, something to be noted, something to be rethought... it was _exhausting_.

"Yes. She's still here."

Standing tall and strong. Head high. Gail faced the crowd as if this was something she was used to. And perhaps it was. Holly wasn't really sure. She knew Gail sang but she had never had the pleasure of listening to the blonde actually _do it_. She had heard the humming and whatnot, but not the actual _singing_.

Little did she know she was in for quite a treat.

_Song choice: Aretha Franklin's version of Respect._

Not that Gail had ever lacked soul when it came to singing, but the current rage that cursed through her veins fed a voice that spoke louder than words themselves.

There wasn't pain, just... disappointment. She was not about to let herself get hurt by the words of a stranger. She had suffered more than enough at the hands of her own mother. She was vaccinated. Still, she had to confess that she was slightly pissed off at that Lisa person. She knew nothing about her. The only thing she was aware of was that Gail was a cop, that Holly was the first woman she ever dated, and that she had gory stories to tell. She wasn't sure what else she could possibly know as she had a feeling that Holly wasn't really the kind of person to do a flaw report on the people she dated to deliver promptly to her friends for approval.

Still, that Lisa person had painted quite a portrait, filling in the gaps with facts that Gail doubted to even be from personal experience. What had she based her pattern on? Wikipedia? That or just bad quality television.

Gail hated when people judged each other based on career choice. It was absolutely ridiculous. Being a cop didn't mean anything else besides the fact that you are crazy enough to put your life at risk for plenty of people who seem not to deserve it. You actually end up running into those very same people on the streets and you find yourself doubting your choices for... not even a second. Why? It's simple. Because this is what you wanted to be, this was what you chose to be. You could have been anything else... but you chose _this_, you fought for _this._ What does it say about you? That you can make choices and that you made your own. Congratulations. What else? _Abso-fucking-lutely_ nothing.

Speaking of which, Gail didn't quite approve all the nagging about Holly's choice of field. Sure, they were best friends and they could hold onto the _we-are-just-messing-with-each-other _card, but there was at least a tiny little sign of resentment. It was impossible not to see and it actually hurt Gail personally to see Holly just roll her eyes. The brunette was probably just used to it and tired of listening to Lisa going on and on about how she could have had _the_ best job ever and had instead gotten stuck with the dead. If only she got her eyes out of everyone's cleavage every once in a while and opened them to realize that what Holly did did indeed save lives...

Lisa might think Gail to be uneducated, but Gail herself wasn't that impressed with the _doctor_ either. And there was no way in hell she was going to leave Holly behind because of some textbook person's words. No way. Because there comes a point in life when you learn, when you realize, that the main issue has nothing to do with disappointing others, with not being _enough_ for others, but to yourself. You are your own worst enemy.

Running away wouldn't hurt Lisa's feelings. It wouldn't be payback. It would be Gail's own demise and would probably cause Holly pain and that was something the blonde was trying to avoid at all costs. Even if it meant swallowing her pride till she could sing it at the top of her lungs.

_Oh, singing. How cathartic._

The blonde bowed theatrically as she finished the song and the crowd applauded. She then gave the mic back to whoever had called her in and accepted the free drink as a thank you.

"I didn't know you sang."

That was the first thing she heard, from Lisa, as she sat by Holly's side, her arm coming to rest around the brunette's waist, bringing her slightly closer so that she could kiss the unspoken words that had remained trapped in her throat even after the whole singing thing.

The kiss was a fresh breeze on a warm summer night. It brought goose bumps to Holly's skin, reminding her of how alive Gail made her feel with just one single kiss.

_Nothing else mattered._

Gail rested her forehead against the brunette's, her eyes still closed as she said,

"There is a lot you don't know about me. But all you _must_ know is that I care about your friend and I am more than ready to fight for her as long as she wants me to."


End file.
